AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Test 13 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An operations team maintains a hardened Windows base image that includes patch baseline settings and monitoring agents. They need to publish new versions, replicate the image to another region, and deploy future VMs from the same controlled image source. What should they use?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

An Azure Compute Gallery image version.. An Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Shared Image Gallery) is the correct service for managing, versioning, replicating, and deploying custom Windows images across regions. It supports multiple image versions, regional replication, and allows you to deploy VMs from a controlled, hardened base image. Snapshots alone lack versioning and cross-region replication capabilities.

Answer

A snapshot of the generalized OS disk.

Answer

A VM extension on an existing VM.

Answer

An availability set for the image resources.

Question 2

A stateless web application is hosted on an Azure virtual machine scale set. Traffic is predictable: CPU usage stays below 20% overnight, then rises above 70% during business hours. The administrator wants the instance count to increase automatically when average CPU stays high for 10 minutes and to decrease after demand drops. What should be configured?

Accepted Answer

Autoscale rules on the virtual machine scale set.. Autoscale rules on the virtual machine scale set allow the administrator to define a scale-out condition (e.g., average CPU > 70% for 10 minutes) and a scale-in condition (e.g., average CPU < 20% for a specified duration). This matches the requirement for automatic, metric-based scaling based on predictable traffic patterns.

Answer

A proximity placement group for the scale set instances.

Answer

Manual scale operations only.

Answer

An availability set with three update domains.

Question 3

Based on the exhibit, a stateless web app must add VM instances during business hours and remove them at night based on CPU usage. Which Azure service should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

An Azure virtual machine scale set.. An Azure virtual machine scale set (VMSS) is the correct choice because it automatically scales the number of VM instances in or out based on CPU usage metrics, and it supports scheduled scaling to add instances during business hours and remove them at night. This aligns with the stateless web app requirement for elastic, automated scaling without manual intervention.

Answer

An availability set with two virtual machines.

Answer

A single Azure VM with a larger size.

Answer

A recovery services vault.

Question 4

Based on the exhibit, which Azure compute service should you deploy for a stateless web app that needs more instances during business hours and fewer at night?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set with autoscale rules.. A virtual machine scale set with autoscale rules is the correct choice because it automatically adjusts the number of VM instances based on demand, scaling out during business hours and scaling in at night. This matches the stateless web app requirement, as scale sets are designed for stateless workloads where instances can be added or removed without data loss.

Answer

A single larger virtual machine.

Answer

An availability set with two VMs.

Answer

A dedicated host with one VM per host.

Question 5

An administrator needs to deploy a VM quickly using the same hardened operating system image that was approved by the security team. What should the administrator use as the source for the new VM?

Accepted Answer

A managed image. A managed image captures a fully configured, hardened OS disk (including installed software and settings) as a reusable snapshot. When deploying a new VM, specifying this managed image as the source ensures the VM boots with the exact, security-approved OS configuration, meeting the requirement for a quick, consistent deployment.

Answer

A network interface

Answer

A resource lock

Answer

A public IP address

Question 6

Based on the exhibit, a workload must remain available even if one datacenter in an Azure region becomes unavailable. The region supports zone deployment. What should the administrator configure?

Accepted Answer

Availability zones.. Availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the workload across two or more zones ensures that if one datacenter fails, the other zones continue to operate, maintaining availability. This directly meets the requirement of surviving a single datacenter outage within a region that supports zone deployment.

Answer

An availability set.

Answer

A resource lock.

Answer

A user-defined route.

Question 7

Based on the exhibit, the administrator needs to deploy a VM quickly using a preapproved hardened operating system image. Which source should be used when creating the VM?

Accepted Answer

An approved custom image in an Azure Compute Gallery.. An approved custom image in an Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Shared Image Gallery) is the correct source because it allows the administrator to deploy a VM quickly using a preapproved, hardened operating system image. The Azure Compute Gallery provides versioning, replication, and regional distribution of custom images, ensuring that the hardened OS is readily available for rapid deployment across multiple regions. This aligns with the requirement for a preapproved image that meets security and compliance standards.

Answer

A temporary public IP address.

Answer

A network security group rule.

Answer

An Azure Monitor alert rule.

Question 8

After a Windows VM is created, the administrator wants IIS installed and a configuration script run automatically without signing in to the server. Which Azure feature should be used?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine extension. A virtual machine extension (such as the Custom Script Extension for Windows) allows you to deploy and run scripts on an Azure VM after provisioning, without requiring any interactive sign-in. This is the correct Azure feature to automatically install IIS and execute a configuration script as part of the VM deployment or post-deployment automation.

Answer

An availability set

Answer

An Azure Policy assignment

Answer

A network security group rule

Question 9

A company hosts a stateless web application behind a load balancer. Traffic increases during the day and drops at night. The team wants Azure to automatically add or remove identical VM instances based on demand. What should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set. A virtual machine scale set (VMSS) is the correct choice because it automatically manages a group of identical, load-balanced VMs and can scale out (add VMs) or scale in (remove VMs) based on demand metrics like CPU usage or a schedule. This matches the requirement for a stateless web application with variable traffic, as VMSS integrates with Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway and supports autoscale rules to handle daytime spikes and nighttime drops without manual intervention.

Answer

A single large virtual machine

Answer

An availability set

Answer

A managed image

Question 10

A Windows VM must install IIS after provisioning and then run a script that registers the server with an internal API by using the VM's managed identity. The same steps must run automatically whenever the VM is deployed from Bicep. What should be added to the deployment?

Accepted Answer

A Custom Script Extension on the VM. The Custom Script Extension (CSE) is the correct choice because it allows you to run PowerShell or Bash scripts on an Azure VM after provisioning, enabling the installation of IIS and execution of a registration script that leverages the VM's managed identity. Since the requirement specifies that these steps must run automatically whenever the VM is deployed from Bicep, the CSE can be declared as a resource in the Bicep template, ensuring it executes on every deployment. This directly addresses the need for post-deployment configuration without manual intervention.

Answer

A read-only resource lock on the VM resource group

Answer

An availability set containing the VM

Answer

A proximity placement group for the VM

Question 11

An operations team wants to deploy the same set of Azure VMs every month from source control. The deployment should be readable, repeatable, and stored as code. What should they use?

Accepted Answer

Bicep template. Bicep is a domain-specific language (DSL) that uses declarative syntax to deploy Azure resources as code. It provides readability, repeatability, and version control integration, making it ideal for deploying the same set of VMs monthly from source control. Unlike ARM templates, Bicep offers cleaner syntax and modularity, but both are valid infrastructure-as-code solutions.

Answer

Manual portal deployment

Answer

Azure Advisor recommendation

Answer

Azure Resource Explorer

Question 12

An online transaction app uses two identical VMs in an Azure region that supports availability zones. The business wants the app to stay available if an entire datacenter in the region fails. What should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

Two VMs placed in different availability zones within the region.. Deploying VMs in different availability zones protects against an entire datacenter failure. Each availability zone is a physically separate datacenter within an Azure region, with independent power, cooling, and networking. If one zone fails, the VM in the other zone remains available, ensuring business continuity for the app.

Answer

An availability set with the VMs placed in different update domains.

Answer

A proximity placement group so both VMs stay physically close together.

Answer

A single VM with Premium SSD storage and automatic restart.

Question 13

A stateless Linux API should start with 2 instances, scale out to 6 when average CPU stays above 75 percent for 10 minutes, and scale back in when load drops. Which Azure compute resource should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set with autoscale rules.. A virtual machine scale set (VMSS) with autoscale rules is the correct choice because it natively supports scaling out and scaling in based on performance metrics like average CPU percentage. The requirement for a stateless Linux API with a minimum of 2 instances, scaling to 6 when CPU exceeds 75% for 10 minutes, and scaling back in when load drops is exactly the use case VMSS is designed for. Autoscale rules can be configured to use a scale-out and scale-in policy with a cool-down period, ensuring the application remains responsive while optimizing cost.

Answer

An availability set with manual VM resizing.

Answer

A single Standard D-series VM with scheduled shutdown.

Answer

A load balancer in front of two unmanaged VMs.

Question 14

A development environment uses temporary test VMs that can be rebuilt at any time. The administrator wants the operating system disk to provide the lowest practical latency and does not need the disk data to survive a deallocate operation. Which OS disk option should be selected?

Accepted Answer

Ephemeral OS disk.. Ephemeral OS disks use the local VM storage (temporary disk) rather than remote managed storage, which provides the lowest possible latency because data is stored directly on the host node. Since the test VMs can be rebuilt at any time and the disk data does not need to survive a deallocate operation, the ephemeral disk is ideal—it is automatically deleted when the VM is deallocated or deleted, and it avoids the cost and performance overhead of managed disks.

Answer

Standard HDD managed disk.

Answer

Premium SSD managed disk.

Answer

Ultra Disk managed disk.

Question 15

A web tier must use identical VMs, keep the desired instance count if one instance becomes unhealthy, and allow future horizontal expansion without creating VMs one by one. What should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set with health-based instance management.. A virtual machine scale set with health-based instance management is correct because it automatically maintains a desired number of identical VM instances, replaces unhealthy instances based on health probes, and supports horizontal scaling without manual VM creation. This aligns with the requirements for identical VMs, automatic instance replacement, and future expansion.

Answer

An availability set because it automatically replaces unhealthy instances.

Answer

An Azure Dedicated Host to keep the VMs on one physical server.

Answer

A proximity placement group to ensure the VMs are distributed evenly.